Aside from the excemptions, this is perfectly matching what Amartya Sen has been emphasizing for years. You (as a society) cannot improve economically without some basic rights.
Indeed, I wouldn't wonder if what 21tigermike proposed would change the picture, at least for China.

Yes if you are an individual, but probably not if you are an entire country. As the figure below shows, there are very few countries that have developed beyond $5,000 in 2005 PPP dollars without becoming democracies somewhere along the way (unless they are an oil economy). This scatter plot co...